Ex-Boral boss Selway in frame for top Sims Metal job

Mark Selway, a former Boral chief executive, is being eyed to head the world’s largest scrap metal recycler, Sims Metal Management.
Photo: Michel O’Sullivan

by
Michael Hobbs

Former
Boral
chief executive
Mark Selway
is being considered for the top job at the world’s largest scrap metal recycler,
Sims Metal Management
.

Mr Selway stepped down as Boral chief executive in May 2012 after just over two years in the role. Boral’s board led by chairman
Bob Every
said the company required a “leadership style suited to harmonising the changes that occurred over the past two years".

He has not been appointed to any public company roles since his departure from Boral.

Sims Metal chairman
Geoff Brunsdon
declined to provide an update on the recruitment process or confirm Mr Selway had made the short list of executives being considered for the role.

“Anyone who has run a global business that is reasonably capital intensive and is in a highly competitive markets could have the skills that are needed [to run Sims Metal]," he said.

“The process is going exactly how we described when we made an announcement that we were going to go out and recruit."

But sources said Mr Selway was among a shortlist of executives considered as the successor to Sims Metal chief executive
Daniel Diens
t who resigned from the role in February this year. Mr Selway could not be reached for comment.

UK fraud investigation

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Mr Dienst’s resignation followed an investigation by the company into possible fraud in its United Kingdom scrap metal division. Sims Metal took a $432 million write-down in mid-February, including a $78 million impairment of its inventories in Britain.

Mr Brunsdon insisted Mr Dienst’s resignation was not linked to the investigation, highlighting his direct involvement in implementing changes in its UK unit.

“If the issue in the UK had played a part in the decision for him to retire, he would not be playing a part in the implementation of the changes required," Mr Brunsdon said at the time.

Mr Dienst is expected to step down from the role in June this year after more than nine years at the company.

Sims Metal announced in May that the UK inventory investigation and subsequent management changes at its UK Metals and UK Sims Recycling Services business would result in approximately $115 million of significant items recorded against its 2013 financial year results.

Sims Metal is leveraged to economic conditions in the United States, according to Nomura Equity Research, where the company holds a 12 per cent market share.

Schnitzer Steel Industries, which has a 6 per cent market share position in the US scrap market according to Nomura, said scrap metal export selling prices “declined steadily throughout the [third] quarter" in a market update on Wednesday. “Market prices at the end of May approximately $50 per tonne lower than at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2013 driven primarily by lower export demand," said Schnitzer in a statement. Sims Metal shares have risen 6.8 per cent since the beginning of the year to $9.90 a share. The company’s shares fell more than 1 per cent on Thursday while the broader market also finished lower.